25 June 1998: Foundation of the Aldous Huxley Society in Münster
From a report by Bernfried Nugel in Anglistik: Mitteilungen des Deutschen Anglistenverbandes, 10.2 (1999), 133-135: "Aldous Huxley in Münster: The Foundation of the Aldous Huxley Society and the Centre for Aldous Huxley Studies":
"After the Aldous Huxley Centenary Symposium, which I organized at the University of Münster in 1994, many participants encouraged me to found an international society devoted to the study and promotion of the thought and writings of Aldous Huxley. However, I was convinced from the start that such a venture would require a solid basis in the form of an institute or research centre which could function as a vehicle for the activities of the society. Once the Department of English, the Faculty of Philology (Fachbereich 9) and the Rektor of the University of Münster had pledged their support for the Centre for Aldous Huxley Studies , which I gratefully acknowledge here, the foundation of the Aldous Huxley Society could be scheduled for 25 June 1998. Prof.Dr. Lothar Fietz (University of Tübingen), a leading German Huxley expert, kindly agreed to give the inaugural lecture on a characteristically Huxleyan subject: "Mythos,Geschichte und Utopie: Ideologie und Ideologienkritik im Werk Aldous Huxleys" (Myth, History and Utopia: Ideology and Critique of Ideologies in the Works of Aldous Huxley). In a compelling systematic survey of ideological interpretations of myth, history and utopia he discussed changes and recurrences in Huxley's critical assumptions as reflected in his novels and essays from the twenties to the sixties, thus opening up new avenues of research for Huxley criticism. The lecture and the subsequent founders' meeting were attended by about sixty participants, among them the doyen of the Department of English, Prof. Dr. Edgar Mertner , and the Dean of the Faculty of Philology, Prof. Dr. Volker Honemann , as well as Prof. Peter Firchow (University of Minnesota), Dr. James Hull (Zürich) and Prof. Dr. Gerd Rohmann (University of Kassel) as distinguished foreign and non-resident guests. At the beginning of the founders' meeting various addresses from abroad were read out; Mrs. Laura Huxley , widow of Aldous Huxley and Honorary President of the Aldous Huxley Society , had even sent a recorded message, which was played to the audience. The meeting then passed the by-laws and elected the Executive Committee as well as the Board of Curators. Finally, the inauguration of the Aldous Huxley Society was rounded off with a reception sponsored by the British Council, Köln, the Buchhandlung Poertgen-Herder, Münster, and the LIT Verlag, Münster. On the whole, the foundation of the Aldous Huxley Society was a promising event, which was widely publicized on the radio and in German and foreign newspapers."
8-10 June 1999: Prof. Kirpal Singh (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) in Münster, with the following programme:
8 June 1999: (Department of English, room H 19)
9:15-10:45 a.m.: lecture on "BRAVE NEW WORLDS: Aldous Huxley and the Challenges of Globalisation"
2:15-3:45 p.m.: seminar on "Aldous Huxley and Southeast Asia" (Aldous Huxley's views on Southeast Asia and the reception of his works) (room 032)
4:15-5:45 p.m.: seminar continued as "Creative Writing in Southeast Asia" (Aldous Huxley and western literature in general as a challenge to writers in Southeast Asia) (room 032)
10 June 1999: (Department of English, room H 19)
8:00-10:00 p.m.: Kirpal Singh reading from his own works (Singaporean and other Southeast Asian literature in English).
26-29 June 2000: Official Inauguration of the Centre for Aldous Huxley Studies (CAHS) , Department of English, University of Münster: Prof. Jerome Meckier (University of Kentucky); Prof. Sanford Marovitz (Kent State University, Ohio); Dr. Willi Real (University of Münster); Prof. Dr. Bernfried Nugel (University of Münster), with the following programme:
26 June 2000:
4:15-6:00 p.m.: Professor Jerome Meckier, workshop on "Aldous Huxley and the Utopian Tradition: Brave New World and Island"
27 June 2000:
9:15-10.45 a.m.: Professor Jerome Meckier, lecture on "The Brave New World Typescript"
11.15-12.45 a.m.: Professor Bernfried Nugel, lecture on "How Reliable are the Current Huxley Texts? - Toward a Critical Edition of the Works of Aldous Huxley"
2:15-3:45 p.m.: Dr. Willi Real, didactic workshop on "Brave New World and Island : A New Course Plan"
29 June 2000:
9:15-10:45 a.m.: Professor Sanford Marovitz, lecture on "Aldous Huxley's View of Nationalism"
4:15-5:00 p.m.: Professor Jerome Meckier, lecture on "Aldous Huxley's American Experience"
5:15: inauguration of the CAHS , followed by a reception
December 2000: The Aldous Huxley Society and Professor Kirpal Singh (The Centre for Cross-Cultutral Studies, Singapore Management University) are happy to announce the Aldous Huxley Symposium in Singapore, 28 December 2000 - 01 January 2001: "Brave New Worlds: Aldous Huxley and the Challenges of the Third Millennium"; see Singapore.
Further Activities at the University of Münster, Germany, Dept. of English:
6 November 2001
9:15 a.m.-10:45 a.m. (room H19, Dept. of English):
Prof. Pierre Vitoux: "Aldous Huxley and Poetry" (with discussion)
10 June 2002
Dr. David Bradshaw (Worcester College, Oxford): "The Name and Nature of Huxley's Satire in the 1920s" (workshop)
4:15 p.m.-5:45 p.m. (Centre for Aldous Huxley Studies, Room 107, Dept. of English)
11 June 2002
Dr. David Bradshaw (Worcester College, Oxford): "Huxley in India 1925-6" (lecture with discussion)
9:15 a.m.-10:45 a.m. (Room H19, Dept. of English)
7 November 2002
Prof. Peter Firchow (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis): "Nancy (Myra, Lucy); Carrington (Mary, Anne); and Aldous (Theodore, Walter): Fact and Fiction" (lecture with discussion)
9:15 a.m.-10:45 a.m. (Room H 19, Dept. of English)
25 - 29 July 2004
Third International Aldous Huxley Symposium: "Aldous Huxley, Man of Letters: Thinker, Critic and Artist"
Riga, University of Latvia
For the detailed programme (pdf) see Riga.
19 October 2004
Prof. David Dunaway (University of New Mexico): "Broadcasting Huxley: A Case Study in Scholarly Communication" (lecture with discussion)
9:15 a.m.-10:45 a.m. (Room H 19, Dept. of English)
4 November 2004
Prof. Jean-Louis Cupers (Facultés Unversitaires Saint-Louis, Bruxelles): "Huxley's Passacaglia: On the Margin of Aldous Huxley's Musico-Literary Venture" (lecture with discussion)
9:15 a.m.-10:45 a.m. (Room R 236, Dept. of Philosophy, Domplatz 23)
Prof. Jean-Louis Cupers (Facultés Unversitaires Saint-Louis, Bruxelles): "Reading Huxley's Short Stories: The Sound Behind the Orthography" (workshop)
14:15 a.m.-15:45 a.m. (Studiobühne, Domplatz 23)
15 November 2005
Poetry Reading: An Evening with Singaporean Writer Kirpal Singh
8.00 p.m. (Room R 031, Dept. of English)
16 November 2005
Prof. Kirpal Singh (Singapore Management University): "Poetry and Politics: Going Beyond Niceties and the Problems of Post-Colonial Honesty"
4.00 p.m. (Room R 031, Dept. of English)
18 November 2005
Prof. Bernfried Nugel, Chairman of the Huxley Society and Director of the CAHS, celebrated his 65th birthday this September and has now retired as a teacher from the Department of English at the University of Münster
Volume 7 of the Society's series "Human Potentialities" has been dedicated to Bernfried Nugel on this occasion: Hermann J. Real, Peter E. Firchow (eds): The Perennial Satirist. Essays in Honour of Bernfried Nugel, Münster, 2005.
